The Barnstable Town Council will hold a tax classification workshop Nov. 19, with a vote to follow Dec. 3.

At the Nov. 5 council meeting, Town Manager John Klimm asked that the council allow for a full version of the tax classification workshop to provide an opportunity for new councilors to be acquainted with the issues.

The council must vote annually on how to apportion the town’s real estate and personal property tax burdens. Barnstable has maintained a “factor of 1,” which assesses the same tax rate for all classes of property, for the past three fiscal years.

Responding to a nonbinding question in FY’06, the council approved a split tax rate, taxing commercial properties at a rate 15 percent higher than residential properties.

Since that time, the town has maintained a 20 percent residential exemption, which shifts a portion of the residential tax levy to the benefit of a majority of residents on their primary home. Those who qualify get an exemption on the taxable value of their property, which has run a little more than $100,000 in the past four years.

The workshop is scheduled near the beginning of the council’s Nov. 19 agenda.